Eureka! Lab

These science trips for girls are so cool, they’re glacial

Want to see a glacier? Applications to join an expedition are due by the end of January

Applications are open for girls ages 16 to 17 to have an experience that is truly “cool” — exploring a glacier.

Anna Omelchenko/istockphoto

By Bethany Brookshire

A science-based way to escape the summer heat? Yes, please! Inspiring Girls Expeditions is offering free science expeditions for girls to explore glaciers and help conduct research in summer 2017. Groups will travel to the Gulkana Glacier in Alaska, Mount Baker in Washington or to the Findel Glacier in the Alps in Switzerland. One group will even explore Bear Glacier in Alaska by kayak.

Inspiring Girls Expeditions provides immersive science experiences for teen girls. Teens admitted to one of its programs will work with glaciologists — scientists who study glaciers — to study and learn about these huge masses of ice. The girls will explore these unique environments with female engineers, mountain guides, marine biologists, ecologists and other scientists and wilderness experts.

Four trips are currently available:

  1. Girls on Ice – Alaska will accept nine girls who will travel to the Gulkana Glacier in Alaska from June 16 to 27, 2017. The trip is open to girls from Alaska, California Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as British Columbia and the Yukon Territories in Canada.
  2. Girls on Ice – Cascades will accept up to nine girls from all over the world. This group will travel to Washington and explore Mount Baker from July 16 to 27, 2017.
  3. Girls in Icy Fiords will accept eight applicants from anywhere in the world. These girls will explore Bear Glacier in Alaska and the surrounding environments by kayak from August 11 to 22, 2017.
  4. Girls on Ice – Switzerland is a German-language trip to the Findel Glacier in the Swiss Alps from July 15 to 25, 2017. Applicants must be able to understand German.

Applicants must be 16 or 17 on June 1, 2017 to qualify. Girls will be selected based on a diversity of life backgrounds and experiences. Applications, found here, are due January 31, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Alaska time.

Inspiring Girls Expeditions is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Girls on Ice – Switzerland is supported by the Swiss Federal Institute of Hydrology and Hydraulics in Zurich, the Geographical Institutes of the Universities of Friborg and Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute.

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Power Words

More About Power Words

ecology     A branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. A scientist who works in this field is called an ecologist.

engineer     A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.

environment     The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create for that organism or process. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature, humidity and placement of components in some electronics system or product.

expedition     A journey (usually relatively long or over a great distance) that a group of people take for some defined purpose, such as to map a region’s plant life or to study the local microclimate.

glacier     A slow-moving river of ice hundreds or thousands of meters deep. Glaciers are found in mountain valleys and also form parts of ice sheets.

marine     Having to do with the ocean world or environment.

marine biologist     A scientist who studies creatures that live in ocean water, from bacteria and shellfish to kelp and whales.

National Science Foundation     The U.S. Congress created this independent federal agency in 1950 to promote the advancement of science; national health, prosperity and welfare; and the nation’s defense. This agency funds nearly one-fourth of all federally supported basic research in U.S. colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal funding.

Pacific     The largest of the world’s five oceans. It separates Asia and Australia to the west from North and South America to the east.

About Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology and likes to write about neuroscience, biology, climate and more. She thinks Porgs are an invasive species.